Outdoor Activity of the Month: Geocaching — September

Go on a treasure hunt the whole family can enjoy–Geocaching! Geocaching takes your children’s interest in playing with digital devices and combines it with the fun (and healthy benefits) of being in nature.

What is Geocaching?

It’s a fun way to find hidden "caches" (prize-filled containers) that are placed all over the world by fellow geocachers. Using a free, easy-to-use app on your Smartphone, you’ll receive satellite signals that show the latitude and longitude of where a cache is hidden—to within a distance of 12 feet! You can also use a Global Positioning System (GPS) Device, but it is not necessary.

Geocaching in 90 Texas State Parks and Online:

Geocaching is a wildly popular activity in Texas. Currently, there are 1,074 hidden geocaches in 90 Texas State Parks for you to find. But finding the cache is just half of the fun. When you get home, you can join the free online geocaching community and swap trail stories, pictures, location hints, etc. online at several sites including www.Geocaching.com.

Free Geocaching Workshops in Your Area:

Want to join the fun but not sure where to start? The best way is to take a free workshop at a nearby state park. You can attend free geocaching workshops at these state parks/natural areas in September:

AUSTIN area geocaching workshops:

Government Canyon State Natural Area

Lockhart State Park

Inks Lake State Park

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area

McKinney Falls State Park.

DALLAS / FORT WORTH area geocaching workshops:

Purtis Creek State Park

Cedar Hill State Park

Cooper Lake State Park– South Sulphur Unit

Lake Mineral Wells State Park.

HOUSTON area geocaching workshops:

Brazos Bend State Park

Stephen F. Austin State Park

SAN ANTONIO area geocaching workshops:

South Llano River State Park

Lake Corpus Christi State Park

Government Canyon State Natural Area

Lockhart State Park

Inks Lake State Park

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area

McKinney Falls State Park

Goliad State Park and Historic Site

WEST TEXAS area geocaching workshops:

Big Bend Ranch – Fort Leaton State Park

Hueco Tanks State Park/State Historic Site

Franklin Mountains State Park

Join the Texas State Parks Geocache Challenge:

Kids will especially enjoy the Texas State Parks Geocache Challenge. Last year nearly 11,000 geocache “finds” occurred in state parks alone, and hundreds of children learned interesting facts and stories about Texas State Parks and earned prizes/promotional discounts for finding these “special” caches.